


The Scent of Lavender

by artisticPsychologist



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-05-26
Packaged: 2018-11-05 00:02:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11001747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artisticPsychologist/pseuds/artisticPsychologist
Summary: Taking place after the events of "I Am My Mom," Steven is being kept in a cell on Homeworld when a strange gem comes to visit him.  Features one of my fan gems, Lavender Pearl.





	The Scent of Lavender

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't get this out of my head. Sorry if it's a little messy, it's not too involved, though.

They were keeping her in a small cell, barely large enough for even the smallest gem to even take a step to the right or left. She didn’t seem interested in taking steps, however. She looked different from the way Lavender remembered her, so small and broken. Homeworld was so very good at breaking things, after all. Lavender couldn’t be angry at her for looking small. She was slumped against the floor, and she looked for all the world like she had regressed into a frightened little gemling. Her hair had turned dark and wiry, a stark contrast to the smooth pink curls that had once reflected the sun. They had said her memory was fading along with her body, and Lavender could only pray she would still remember.

For a long moment, she stood beside the cell, facing into the hallway. They must have beaten fear into her, a feeling Lavender knew all too well. She and her sisters had grown afraid to speak over their cycles on Homeworld as well. It hurt to know Rose Quartz was too frail to even talk to her, but Lavender knew she needed to be strong.

When she spoke, her voice was barely raised above a whisper.

“Do you know me?” she said softly, folding her hands in front of her chest.

Steven hadn’t even realized anyone was outside. He’d learned since being taken to Homeworld that some gems walked almost silently. Over time, he’d come to recognize the difference between approaching guards and the almost gentle shuffle of their commanding agates. Pearls, however, practically glided over the floors, as though they were too meek to make the slightest of sounds.

For a moment, he pondered this gem’s question. He had tricked everyone he’d come into contact here into thinking he was Rose, and it would be easier to say yes than to lie to her. He didn’t have the energy to explain the truth. Before he could open his mouth to agree with her, though, she cut him off.

“It’s alright if you don’t remember. They tell me you don’t remember much any more. They call it the suffering of age, the loss of luster. I’ll understand.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice hoarse. They hadn’t thought to give him water for a long time.

“It’s alright. It was a long time ago. My master, Charoite, had been a part of the Earth Colony. I’m her servant, Lavender Pearl. I’ve come here at great personal risk to speak with you,” she said. She had practiced those lines many times, and it felt odd to finally say them to Rose.

Steven was quiet. He had yet to meet a friendly gem here, and he was eager to talk, but he feared he wouldn’t be able to give this gem what she needed.

“Charoite is… a difficult gem to serve,” Lavender continued solemnly. This got Steven’s attention, and he sat up in his cell.

“What does she do?” he asked.

Lavender just shook her head. “I would never burden you with that knowledge."

Silence passed between them again, and Steven wondered what he could say. This gem had seen the Earth when it was just a colony, so she must have been thousands upon thousands of years old. She had been forced to serve a master for so long that she’d stopped calling the treatment cruel, settling on difficulty.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, unsure if that was what she wanted to hear, but not knowing what else to say.

“It’s not so bad. Not all the time. There are sad times, of course. Times when I feel the darkness creeping all around me like a fog, when I can’t find a speck of light. But… a long time ago, you gave me something. When it’s dark, I can hear your voice, crisp and clear as the day you gave it to me,” she said, slowly looking up at the ceiling as she spoke, trying to find the words to continue. “You’d found me crying in the dark. Charoite was looking for me, and I feared you would bring me back to her. I can still see it, sometimes, when I close my eyes. Your hair framed by the morning sun, your hand outstretched. You spoke, and you told me to run. Do you remember now?"

Steven just nodded. He couldn’t bring himself to tell her no. This gem had suffered too much to be let down again. Her face lit up when he did, and she clutched her hands closer to her chest.

“I was very afraid in that moment. I don’t know what made me do it, but I talked back to you. Imagine! A pearl talking back to a soldier. I thought for sure you would do something horrible. I said, where will I go? There’s no place for me to run to,” she said, more confident now.

Though, now she had to take a moment, pressing her clasped hands to her lips, trying desperately to find the words needed to continue. She was very eloquent for someone who had a fear of talking back, Steven thought. Not unlike the pearl he loved, back on Earth.

“You didn’t do anything to hurt me, though. You just looked at me, and you said, “run anyway.” It was remarkable, no one had ever told me that before. You said, “run anyway. I will _make_ a place for you.” And I did,” Lavender continued. “I didn’t escape that day. I’m sure you know that. Charoite found me, and it was dark for a long time after, but in that darkness I remembered your promise. It rang out in my head, like a little bell. You said you would make a place for me… and I need to know, did you keep that promise?”

“… of course,” Steven said. “Of course I did.”

“You did?” she gasped, somehow surprised that there was a space waiting for her on Earth. “After all these years, you saved a space for me. I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”

Steven rubbed his eyes. He wanted desperately to bring her back to Earth with him, but there was no way home. Not unless she was about to offer him a way out of his little cage.

“It… it must have been hard to keep it all that time. To remember an inconsequential pearl you met for just a brief moment,” she said, her voice quivering. “It’s okay. You can let it go now, I won’t tell anyone.”

Steven shook his head, protesting, but she held up a hand and he fell silent.

“Please. I didn’t come here to cry to you again,” she said, wiping her eyes. “I came to give you what you gave me. I can’t help you, I can’t free you, but I can give you something to hold onto when the darkness comes. It won’t be as hard to keep as your promise was, don’t worry."

Lavender knelt down in front of the cage, fully facing him for the first time. She looked frail up close, the muscles in her arms trembling as she held her hands aloft. There was wetness on her cheeks, and a clear droplet threatened to fall from the point of her chin.

“There are still gems on Homeworld who believe in you. Our home is not so far gone as they’ve led you to think, and you are not done. You will be free, Rose,” she said.

“So will you!” Steven cried out, but Lavender didn’t seem convinced. She looked away, down the hall, at something Steven couldn’t see. There was a smile on her face, but it was the smile of a porcelain mask. In the quiet that followed, Steven could hear the heavy footfalls of a gem soldier.

The approaching gem whisked her away, her thick hands clenching hard enough to bruise Lavender’s pale purple skin. Harsh words hissed out between the gem’s teeth, echoing down the hallway, but Steven could do nothing but listen as they grew fainter and fainter in the distance.


End file.
